


Come further up, come further in!

by smokingbomber



Series: Between the Bars [3]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: F/M, Gen, Post Sailor Stars, Post-Canon, Pre-Crystal Tokyo, Shipping Like FedEx, Usamamo 5eva
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 13:59:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4831670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokingbomber/pseuds/smokingbomber
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The end of the big freeze as the last doubt falls away.</p><p>"I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it 'til now." --C.S. Lewis, <span class="u">The Last Battle</span></p>
            </blockquote>





	Come further up, come further in!

His breath clouded the air near her hair, and one arm tightened around her shoulders as the other snaked quickly around her waist, holding her up when her knees started to give out.

Heart in his throat, he poured everything he had, everything he was, into shoring her up and giving her something solid to lean on. He held her with his body and his soul to steady her uncontrolled trembling, to share the burden of its cause.

_I'd gladly give you all my power to make you stronger._

All he felt he had to give were his devotion, his heartfelt but clumsy encouragement, the strength his future had taught him to use, and his presence. Sometimes it was only the first and the last, sometimes that's all he had left.

She'd told him over and over that these were no small gifts, that she needed him, that she needed what he gave her in order to keep going, keep fighting; she needed all of him in order to be strong. She needed all her friends, her soldiers-- and she needed him.

She told him until he almost believed it.

Faith in those words was harder when they were in the middle of everything, in the chaos and pain of a crisis, and nothing he could do felt like it was enough.

He could believe in _her_ so easily, trust her judgement about anything else she told him, but no matter how he grew in strength and experience, there was always that lingering doubt that he was honestly so vital, so important, so necessary.

_I'd give you my life to give you more power._

"Ma-mamo-chan," she whispered into the waiting, thunderous silence, stumbling over the simple syllables, "please. Please, Mamo-chan."

Darkness and ice covered everything, and the stillness around them was malevolent and hungry, death waiting to strike and take away the small figure of light and the shadow behind her. The world was holding its breath along with its prince.

He was holding her back. His doubt was holding her back. But how could he--

Leaning his face down into her hair, the barest glimmer of a phantom mask outlining his eyes, he let her scent envelop him. He opened his mind and immediately felt the oppression, the pins sunk deep into his planet, the claws of the monstrous strength surrounding them and tearing at their hopes and their spirits, sucking the life from everything they held dear, everything they'd sworn to protect. It was winning because he couldn't believe her in that one last thing.

_Oh. OH. I'm holding you back by-- by thinking I'm holding you back?_

_Mamo-chan, you're so silly._

Pulling in a breath and clearing his mind of the doubt that haunted him, clearing it of everything but her brightness, he let go of his failures and his memories of loss, of inadequacy. He let the memories drift away and be ripped from the bubble of peace they'd been compromising into the maelstrom.

With this last concession, nothing held back the star in his heart from joining hers.

"Usako, I'm here," he breathed, lifting his head and staring down the darkness with her.

The world exhaled, and the light she held doubled, warm gold life mingling with the silver glow of purity. It was slow at first, but the love and relief that poured from both of them in a torrent made it catch fire, and he watched in wonder as the brilliance exploded and washed over everything.

All at once, nothing was silent anymore, and he felt the world's heart stutter into life and beat strong and steady under his feet. Rivers rushed and mountains pushed proudly into the sky, and the sun caressed the earth's surface, pulling life up from below the ice and ripping the pall of darkness from the vivid colors that a princess had once fallen for.

The more that great heart beat, the more the world woke from silence and pushed and blustered and shoved its way back into the universe, the stronger he felt them both grow until that heart was his own, beating in his chest in time with hers.

There weren't any words, there weren't minutes or hours or days, there was no pain and no fear, no doubt.

Breathless laughter rang out around him, so full of joy that it was a piece of heaven. She turned around in his arms, smiling impossibly brightly, her eyes shining and tears streaming down her face as he realized the laughter was his own.

One slender hand came up to his face and brushed at it, coming away glistening, and he realized she wasn't the only one who couldn't stop crying, couldn't stop smiling.

"Welcome home," her heart told his, and the world sang its life through their veins.


End file.
